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I was never a big fan of cheesecake until I made the association of cheesecake as a cheese course rather than a cake. On the rare occasion dining out that you might opt for what most would consider a hors d’oeuvre, a cheese plate certainly offers rich, decadent flavor, and often a fruity and/or acidic component to cut the fat and give balance. In this way, I equate a light, fluffy blueberry lemon cheesecake with what it really is – a cheese course.

Here is my in-progress recipe, adapted from Taste of Home

Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecake

TOPPING/SWIRL INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon cold water

CRUST INGREDIENTS

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 16 squares)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon lemon zest

FILLING INGREDIENTS

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup light sour cream

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice. Cook and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the berries are softened. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into the blueberry mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and add lemon zest; cool to room temperature. Transfer to a blender or magic bullet; cover and process until smooth. Set aside.

For crust, in a small bowl, combine the crumbs (I use a food processor to pulverize them), lemon zest and sugar; stir in the butter. Press onto the bottom of a greased 9-in. springform pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the sour cream, flour and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour filling over crust. Drizzle with 4 tablespoons blueberry mixture; cut through batter with a knife to swirl.

Return pan to baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen; cool or refrigerate until serving. Serve with remaining blueberry sauce drizzles on each slice.

Stir together water, espresso powder, 1 tablespoon sugar, and rum + chocolate liquor in a shallow bowl until sugar has dissolved, then cool. Set aside.

Beat egg yolks, Marsala, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water using a whisk or handheld electric mixer until tripled in volume, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. Beat in mascarpone until just combined. Set aside.

Beat cream in a large bowl until it holds stiff peaks.

Fold mascarpone mixture into whipped cream gently but thoroughly.

Dipping both sides of each ladyfinger into coffee mixture, fill baking pan with 18 ladyfingers in 3 rows, trimming edges to fit if necessary. Spread half of mascarpone filling on top. Dip remaining 18 ladyfingers in coffee and arrange over filling in pan. I usually do an extra layer, it depends on your dish!

Spread remaining mascarpone filling on top and dust with cocoa. Chill, covered, at least 6 hours.

Let tiramisu stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving, then dust with more cocoa.

A take on our family’s favorite birthday treat — Angela Mia Chocolate Mousse Cake. This version is slightly less dense and doesn’t include a chocolate chip siding (however, you could certainly add it, as you wish!) Best served with homemade vanilla ice cream!

Imperative ingredients: booze in the mousse– your choice, but Kahlua works extremely well. Also the darkest cocoa powder you can find for the cake as well as the ganache!

Go to The Beatrice Inn for a hearty meat-centric dinner and stay for this dessert, if your wallet allows. On a girls night out we treated ourselves to the Banana Brulee Sundae with Chocolate covered Cherries, Amarena Cherry Ice Cream, Sponge Cake and Pedro Ximenez and suffice to say it did not disappoint. The limited dessert options are gluttonous so say the least – foie gras ice cream and fried apple pie are the other choices – but this was surprisingly light for packing such a decadent punch. The bananas were perfectly fried to a golden brown, but the truest highlight of the dish was the cherry infused vanilla ice cream and PX sherry – a match made in heaven!

This week I attended Menus of Change, a sustainable food conference for professional chefs and foodservice operators focused on food transparency and plant-forward eating. The conference is eye-opening, featuring speakers from all corners of the food innovation world from Kimbal Musk (Kitchen Denver) and Corby Kummer (The Atlantic) to McDonald’s and Sonic.

One standout moment this year, perhaps equal with the launch of Sonic’s blended burger, was an innovation by Ocean Hugger Foods called Ahimi – A faux tuna product developed by Chef James Corwell.

We all (okay not all, but if you’re reading this you probably do) know that blue fin tuna is an endangered species and somehow still shows up in fish markets. In fact seafood is now almost always the top issue noted in food sustainability discussions. So why not create a sustainable alternative designed to have the taste and texture of tuna, but made entirely plant-based. The sous vide tomato is clean and unprocessed (the finer details are kept a secret by Chef Corwell and Ocean Hugger) but essentially it’s just water, tomatoes, soy sauce, and vinegar.

“[Our] mission is to support sustainability of the oceans, protect wildlife, and create a world where people can experience the delicious culinary tradition of sushi without harming the oceans.”

Firm, juicy, and bursting with savory flavor, the world’s first plant-based alternative to tuna has set the bar high by demonstrating the endless possibility for sustainable innovation.

Working with the Almond Board of California (ABC) for 5+ years I’ve tasted my fair share of almond milk. There’s always a new take, be it an innovative add-in or sweetener, a blend of coconut or other milks, but usually the simplest recipes take the cake.

Chef Matt Vawter holds it down at Mercantile with this perfectly creamy and slightly sweet recipe. Mercantile is also an incredible place to hang out if you find yourself in Denver’s Union Station – grab a pastry and an iced almond milk latte and set yourself up on the sun soaked patio for a few hours. Then you can make this stuff yourself at home!

Almond Milk

Chef Matt Vawter — Mercantile Denver

150 grams Almonds

Soaked fully submerged in water for 24 hours.

2 each medjool dates

Method:

Remove the soaked almonds from the water and blend in a high powered food service blender with 600 grams fresh water and the dates. Blend until smooth and then strain through a nut bag.

This photo is from a food trends tour we curated in Denver and Boulder for ABC – to taste the recipe on its own we all had a shot alongside our almond milk and coffee beverages.

Well I’m not sure if it’s the sense of anticipation or the tried and true lemony brine, but the fried chicken at Ad Hoc is truly unsurpassed in my book.

Outstanding crisp, juicy chicken, and the fresh mix of seasoning make for a salacious take on the classic. Sure to extensively take over dinner table discussion, the chicken wins the meal without question. Heavy sides – mac and cheese, mashed potatoes – prove far denser than the flawless main event.

To try recreating at home, see below for Food and Wine’s posting of the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 gallon cold water

1 cup plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey

12 bay leaves

1 head of garlic, smashed but not peeled

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

3 large rosemary sprigs

1 small bunch of thyme

1 small bunch of parsley

Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

Two 3-pound chickens

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 cups buttermilk

Vegetable oil, for frying

Rosemary and thyme sprigs, for garnish

RECIPE

In a very large pot, combine 1 quart of the water with 1 cup of the salt and the honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme and parsley. Add the lemon zest and juice and the lemon halves and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Let cool completely, then stir in the remaining 3 quarts of cold water. Add the chickens, being sure they’re completely submerged, and refrigerate overnight.

Drain the chickens and pat dry. Scrape off any herbs or peppercorns stuck to the skin and cut each bird into 8 pieces, keeping the breast meat on the bone.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne and the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Put the buttermilk in a large, shallow bowl. Working with a few pieces at a time, dip the chicken in the buttermilk, then dredge in the flour mixture, pressing so it adheres all over. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

In a very large, deep skillet, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil to 330&#176;. Fry the chicken in 2 or 3 batches over moderate heat, turning once, until golden and crunchy and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each piece registers 160, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain, and keep warm in a low oven while you fry the remaining chicken pieces. Transfer the fried chicken to a platter, garnish with the herb sprigs and serve hot or at room temperature.

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Me

I’m Kate (Katie, Katherine, KJ, Johnny, Kt…) and after visiting 43 or so countries in my 28ish years, I've decided to continue this blog of my experiences along the way. It all started when my passion for food and drink, both in my own life and in the contexts of media and society, led me to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in the Piemonte region of Italy. There I built on my experiences at Porter Novelli New York, in a deep dive into effectively portraying stories about food culture and trends. Back in New York, this blog serves as a map of my adventures through whatever comes my way, so stay tuned as I aim to try anything…at least once ;)